Section 29(8)
LABOR DISPUTE, Strike, Substantial contributing cause, Partial shutdown
CITE AS: Ide v Four Star Corporation, No. 82-4981 AE, Wexford Circuit Court (March 22, 1984).
Appeal pending: No
Claimant: Lynn Ide, et al
Employer: Four Star Corporation
Docket No: B80 68001 74062
CIRCUIT COURT HOLDING: A partial shutdown by the employer does not terminate a labor dispute.
FACTS: "[A]n existing labor contract ended on September 15, 1979 and a strike followed, terminating after the negotiation of a new contract on February 15, 1980 ... On or about November 9, 1979, after the employer had made its final offer to the union, the employer moved a substantial portion of its machinery, equipment and operation from the Cadillac plant to the Mesick plant some 20 miles away. Most of the management personnel who had been located at Cadillac also moved to Mesick, but some activity remained at the Cadillac plant". In mid November, the company erected a For Sale Sign outside the Cadillac plant. Claimants contend that their unemployment after November 9, 1979, was not due to a labor dispute, but due to a lack of work since the plant was effectively closed and there existed no employment opportunity for them.
DECISION: The claimants are disqualified because of a labor dispute.
RATIONALE: "The claimants were unemployed due to a labor dispute. The claimants were not terminated or discharged by the employer, not locked out by the employer, and the Cadillac plant was not closed ... in November or anytime thereafter."
"The labor dispute ... is a substantial contributing cause of the unemployment" Smith v Employment Security Commission, 410 Mich 231 (1981).
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